The Chaos Device
by Epic Dragon Trainer
Summary: My name is Joe Gilligan, and I led a fairly normal life, I mean, as normal as one's life can be when you're orphaned at ten and left to the hands of the Institute, but yeah, fairly normal. I thought that things could only go uphill from my point of life, but that all changed the day that I found the Chaos Device...
1. Welcome to My World

Chapter 1: Welcome to My Life

Hello to all who are reading this in hope that you are one of us. If you are, turn away and run. Live on in ignorance. You don't want the life that my friends and I live. It is no pretty picnic at all. Trust me. If you're reading this thinking that its a good story, read on and be glad that you don't actually believe that any of this happened.

My name is Joe Gilligan, the last surviving member of my family. I was an only child, but with a large extended family, but for some reason they all died off one by one, even my parents, until only I was left. The circumstances of their deaths were ranging, and very bizarre. They ranged from maiming to just dropping dead of no accord whatsoever, no trace of any kind of killer. My parents were the only ones to actually get old enough to have a kid, but when I was ten, they died just like the others.

I have great memories of my parents. They loved me and wanted me to have the best life possible, but they were always paranoid about me, like I were some fragile being that could break at any instant. We went on some pretty memorable trips and did some pretty memorable deeds, but when I woke up to find them both dead in their beds, blood splattering the ceiling and the sheets, well, my life has never been the same since. I've always wanted to find my parents' killer, but I know that it will never happen because I have no idea who or what it was.

I live at the New Jersey Institute for Homeless Children, or, as most people call it, the Institute. The place is a huge victorian mansion near Elizabeth, so we have a good view of the ocean from the top roof. The Institute is massive, with six floors filled with hundreds of rooms. Most of them have never been explored, as we are restricted to the bottom three floors, but that never stopped me. The complex in the top three levels is huge, and I mostly use the space for my own experiments and inventions, as no one can get hurt if they're not supposed to be there.

I am a budding engineer and scientist, so having the extra lab space is awesome. The school I go to, Elizabeth High, offers me all of the old lab equipment, and I take it in. Sure, it usually needs a little fixing, but when I'm done with them, they're good as new. I get chemicals and elements from shop in the major city of Elizabeth. I'm a regular there and the store manager, Mr. McConnel, gives me discounts on all sorts of supplies for being a regular customer.

I don't really have a whole lot of friends, as I'm not what you would call a social person, and I have a...strong personality. I have about four people that I would call real friends of mine, Aaron, Maggie, and Mary. They're all troublemakers, but they mean well, and we all share a good laugh at the end of the day. In fact, they are some of the few who actually accept me, everyone else just writes me off as a freak, nothing more than a nerd who spends his days doing math problems. I think it's mostly because they're about as weird as I am, but that's besides the point.

Aaron is about my height, maybe 5'8", with a crop of curly brown hair on his head, and deep, sea green eyes. He loves nature and hiking, hell he even has his own garden, which I help him with on occasion. He is a total fantasy buff, and is really into the Percy Jackson Series and Heroes of Olympus Series. Well, I mean, all my friends are. I know almost everything there is to know about the series, but I never believed it. I figured that it was just another good story, just like all the others. Boy was I wrong. Aaron also loves swimming, in fact, he goes swimming in the lake just behind the Institute every morning. I prefer a morning run, but hey, I'm not judging.

Maggie is almost a head taller than me, with long brown hair that hangs down to about her chest, with hazel eyes. She is an extremely talented artist, and I mean like professional grade. Her paintings are extremely lifelike and beautiful, its breathtaking. She's smart, nearly as smart as me, which is saying a lot. Her height gives her obvious advantages in basketball, and she loves the sport.

And then there's Mary, who is no girl with a little lamb, let me tell you that. She is an extreme prankster, always up to some trick. Most of them are hilarious, you know, so long as they aren't aimed at you. She's smaller than me, with brown hair that hangs down to her shoulders, and dark brown eyes. Her mischievous attitude has gotten her and us in trouble plenty of times, but either she or I always manages to find a loophole.

And lastly, me. I have dirty blond hair, cut short, and gray-blue eyes. I love science and math, as well as literature and writing. I do a lot of projects for school, and I am a straight A student, extremely disciplined, unlike my friends. I'm one of the only ones out of my group of friends who is in any way organized at all, and if you saw our rooms you'd know what I mean. I am very enthusiastic, more so than would be appropriate, but heck, when did a little enthusiasm hurt anyone?

All of the high school kids walked to the bus stop situated in the front of the Institute. We sat there in the warm spring air, all anticipating the last few days of school when we could enjoy our summer in peace, without the work of school. It was a beautiful morning, but it was spoiled when I heard a voice behind me.

"Hey nerd! What are you going to do today, sit in your room and do math?" I just sighed. Enter Bill Hasslehoff, easily the most obnoxious freshmen at Elizabeth High. If you want an image, imagine a weasel drenched in raw sewage and cleaned off with a dirty gym sock, you'll get a pretty good picture, as well as a good scent.

"Why yes, maybe I will. What's it to you?" I asked calmly, trying not to let my short fuse of a temper burn out. Adrenaline makes me do stupid things, just ask any of my friends about the Bridge Street fight and you'll know what I'm talking about.

"Oh, nothing, just wondering how you were going to be antisocial and friendless today," sneered Bill.

"You know what, you're right. But you should be able to sympathize with that well wouldn't you, hotshot? Seeing as most of your friends are only friends because you pay them," I said, using my wit just to see what would happen.

Bill looked like he was going to explode, his face growing red.

"Take that back!" he yelled.

"Why? You know it's true."

"That's it punk!" he yelled and dropped his backpack and charged me. I simply held my ground, waiting till the last possible second before jumping up as hard as I could, letting my backpack drop low enough to hit him square on the head.

I fell down to earth, and landed holding my backpack out like a cape and shouted, "Olay!"

Bill, disoriented from smacking into my backpack, got up and tried to come at me again, going slower this time. When he was within punching distance, he swung his arm around, trying to hit my blind side. I just sighed. This was too easy.

I let the punch come until it was almost at my face before deflecting it with an easy arm swing. I felt the arm go past, and gripped it tight, twisting it around until it was pinned against his back.

"You know that I'm on the track and football team for a reason, right?" I asked Bill. He just whimpered and I let him go. The much taller, much stockier kid limped off to grab his backpack, while I, the scrawny, shorter kid, just brushed the dirt off of my green shirt.

"You know, no matter how many times you do that, it never gets old," said Aaron, smirking at the bully. Being a freshman was hard, but when you had reflexes like me and my friends, fights don't pose a threat. I swear, it's like all of us have a sixth sense or something for danger, like we can feel it before it comes and react.

The bus came and took us to the school, and I chatted with my friends on the way. We were all excited for the end of the school year, and we had plenty of ideas for places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do over the summer. Seeing as none of us had families, we could do whatever we wanted. Of course, we all had small jobs that we did over the summer, but we still had most of the rest of the day and the weekends. I worked for a mechanic, who was also a crazy inventor. Aaron worked for a gardener, Maggie did work at an art museum, and Mary worked for an electrician. I'm telling you, she has a thing for electricity that is uncanny.

The school day was fairly ordinary, just getting ready for finals and such. After school, I got my things out of my locker and headed for the track for practice. I got changed and headed to the supply closet to get a starting block for practice. I walked into the supply shed and flipped on the light, only to find Bill sitting there, picking the dirt from under his nails with a bronze knife.

I jumped out of surprise, not expecting to find him there. He noticed that I had come in and gave me an evil grin.

"You know, you've got spunk kid. I thought you might be one, but now I know. You're coming with me. My mistress will reward me nicely," said Bill.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, slowly moving my way toward the area where the spare golf clubs were kept. I gripped a broken nine iron and held it behind me, hiding it from his view.

"It's not important. Just come with me, or I'll have to use force."

He looked down again at his nails, and I saw my chance, swinging the club shaft at his head. It hit him and impaled his ear, making him howl in pain. Don't underestimate the power of a broken nine iron. That thing was wicked sharp and balanced pretty well. Bill just yanked the iron shaft out of his ear, and I saw that he wasn't cut, not even scratched.

"You should know that only Celestial Bronze can kill me, hero," said Bill, smirking. I don't know about you, but I wasn't feeling too heroic at the moment. He fingered the knife, and then flung it at me with all of his might. I just managed to dodge, but the knife caught my shirt and pinned me to the wall. I clawed at it, trying to grab the darned thing, but it was just out of reach.

"And now I can take you out," he said, and before my eyes, I saw his eyes glint yellow, something growing behind him, like a pole riddled with spikes. And then I realized that it was a tail, loaded with spikes. I saw his face grow more catlike, his grin turning really creepy.


	2. In Which I Get Poisoned and Meet a Girl

Chapter 2: In Which I Get Poisoned and Meet a Girl

I tried to scream for help, but the Bill's hands were around my throat, constricting my breathing. I hoped to anyone who was listening that someone would either come to find me or try to get something from the shed, but I doubted it highly.

"Now calm down. Just one little prick from one of these," said Bill, fingering one of the spikes on his newly grown tail. I had no idea what he was, but I knew it was bad. "Will send you to dreamland and paralyze you for several hours. Nothing serious, but enough to subdue you're feisty attitude."

He plucked one of them from his tail and pricked me in the neck, right by the artery, and I knew that I was in trouble. I started to see black, and I felt my limbs starting to stiffen up, going into shock and paralyzing. I gasped, the pain stabbing me from the inside like needles, heating up my insides like a microwave. I needed to get to my backpack somehow and grab the vial. It was my only hope.

The blackness was closing in fast, but I felt the knife start to lose its grip and Bill backed away, allowing me to fall to the ground. Bill was about to reach down and pick me up, when he saw something that made him hiss. I looked, and through my haze, I saw a girl with light blond long hair and startling gray eyes, wielding a bronze knife similar to the one stuck in his shirt. The girl advanced on Bill, the monster, whatever you want to call him, taking a stab at it. The knife only scratched his arm, but he instantly exploded into yellow dust, like had just turned into sand and had a bomb placed in his chest.

The girl picked me up, she was remarkably strong, and brought me out to the woods, where she set me down in a field of soft moss. Before I passed out, I managed to whisper to the girl, "Quick. Blue backpack. Boys' locker room. Vial with yellow liquid. Bring it and a needle. Inject me with it," I managed to eek out before I passed out.

I woke up to her standing over me, dabbing my face with a wet towel and talking to me.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

"Ugh. I'm fine, but I need to get to my lab quick before this antidote wears off. It works by identifying anything not supposed to be there and tagging it for my immune system, but it only works for two hours before the toxin comes back, which gives me just enough time to get to my lab and do a blood test and synthesize a proper antidote. Can you drive?" I asked.

The girl looked somewhat flustered before nodding, grabbing out a set of keys from her pocket.

"Where's your lab?" she asked.

"It's...somewhat unauthorized. It's on the top floor of the Institute. We'll need to sneak in, but I know I way."

"Why do you live at the Institute?"

"Let's just say I was orphaned at ten and leave it at that," I said, trying to avoid the topic. "So who are you anyway, and how on earth did you do...that to Bill, er that creature, er, whatever he was."

The girl just sighed. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get you to your lab or you'll be a goner. While Bill may have meant to just make you pass out, that dose was big enough to be permanent if not treated. I hope you know an antidote, besides that magic vial of yours," she said.

She mumbled something else under her breath that she thought I couldn't hear, but my ears have always been sharp. "Mortals. I can't believe he can see through the Mist, but I have to help him. Ambrosia won't work. I hope he knows an antidote."

"I do, you know. You whisper loudly," I said over my shoulder as I walked sluggishly toward the locker room to grab my stuff. She cursed in some language, which I somehow understood as her calling herself an idiot.

I got my stuff, and the I walked out to the girl's car. It was a truck, an old Ford F150 to be exact. Nothing fancy, but it did the job. We hopped in and raced off for the Institute. The girl had a lead foot, I had to say.

We pulled in, and I slipped out, beckoning the girl to follow, and I led her to the dumbwaiter that was outside, by the chimney on the right side of the house. I had expanded it so that it was more comfortable, but it was still cramped for two people. We got up to the top quickly, and I raced off for my blood testing equipment.

I drew a small vial of my blood and inserted into the Spectrograph that I had made, and sat back to wait for the results. The girl soon found me, marvelling at the lab space I had set up. Most everything was on old wood tables that had been stored up there, but everything was organized and neat, everything at right angles and put in perfect positions.

"So...you made all of this?" the girl asked, incredulous.

"Yeah. Took me forever, but yeah I did. The school gives me all their old equipment, and I get materials from an old shop in Elizabeth. I do a lot of work in here, and I've churned out a lot of devices and concoctions, including the one that's keeping me awake right now," I said, tapping the now empty vial. "I made this vial after I was poisoned for the first time, about three years ago. This concoction took forever to make, but it is specified to me, and labels everything that's not natural. Let's just say that I have no shortage of people who hate me, and I took the habit of taking this baby around with me. Useful, as you can see."

"Hm," said the girl, giving me a calculated gaze, which was really unnerving with her storm gray eyes.

"Uh, I don't believe I caught your name," I said awkwardly.

"Oh. Yes, well, my name is Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

I wracked my brain when she said her name. I knew it from somewhere, but I couldn't quite place it. Well, it became irrelevant as I saw that the test was done.

"Alright, let's see what got to me here," I said, examining the sample. "Ah, a neurotoxin, quite lethal in a dose as big as I got, but I was able to immobilize it. Luckily, thanks to my little device here," I said patting the Spectrograph, "I know just what I need to make."

I got to my major synthesizing table, and got to work. I strapped on my goggles, and then proceeded to grab the necessary chemicals and elements, heating things up temporarily, and then cooling them, coming up with a light green concoction, just enough to get rid of the toxin. I grabbed a sterile needle, and putting the mixture into the needle, injected myself with it. I immediately felt a result, the lingering paralysis and sluggishness dissolved, and I could breathe easy.

"See, nothing to worry about. I'm fine. Now, would you mind telling me who your are, what Bill is, and how you killed him," I said before making to go clean up my lab equipment.

"Well, I told you I'm Annabeth Chase. Your buddy Bill, well, that's harder to explain, but you wouldn't believe me if I told you. As for how I killed him, harder to explain. How about you? You said you were orphaned. How did that happen?" she asked.

I noticed the change in topic, but I decided to just roll with it. "Well, it started about eight years ago. I had a whole host of aunts and uncles, but they all started to die off, one by one, on both sides. Really weird circumstances, too. Anyway, the killer found my parents. I woke up one morning to find them dead in their beds, blood everywhere. I was put up for adoption, but no one wanted me, so I was shipped here, to the Institute, where I have lived for five years. Depressing, I know, but I've moved on," I said, fingering the small compass that hung around my neck. It was a last gift from my mom, the night before she died. I remembered it vividly.

"For if you need to find your way when you are lost," she said. It was kind of cryptic, but I just accepted it.

"So you say you knew both of your parents?" she asked.

It was a weird question, but it wouldn't hurt to answer it. "Yeah. I have great memories of them and the times we had together. They were truly amazing people."

"I'll bet they were. Well, that puts that theory to bed. Now..." she was about to say when I saw Aaron race toward me. He was one of the few who knew about my lab, along with Maggie and Mary. He raced up, breathless, and panted out a message.

"Bill...downstairs...looking for you...found dumbwaiter...on his way now," he said, gasping for breath.

"I thought you killed him," I said to Annabeth.

"Let's just say that Bill is of another breed," she said curtly. I heard footsteps, and then crashing from somewhere in the lab.

"Crap, he's here. Alright, make for the dumbwaiter. I need to grab something real quick," I said before racing off.

I found what I needed quickly. My laptop held every bit of information about all of my work, and I needed it. I stuffed it in my backpack and raced for the dumbwaiter, grabbing a spare wooden board. It was no knife, but I would be able to fend him off if he came for me.

I was almost at the dumbwaiter, but of course, I couldn't be that lucky. Bill, or whatever he was, had crossed my path, baring new fangs and that tail of his.

"Gah! How are you not asleep and paralyzed?" he yelled, flinging a set of spikes from his tail at me.

"Let's just say I've got science on my side. Computer, activate sleeping gas!" I yelled, yanking on my mask before bracing myself. The sound of gas leaking filled the air, and Bill's eyes crossed before falling on his face in slumber. I knew that it wouldn't last long, maybe a minute, so I raced for the dumbwaiter. I went down it quickly, racing for Annabeth's truck when I got out. I heard another crashing sound before seeing a large shadow above me take form. I looked up and saw Bill hurtling toward me. I ran faster, trying to outdistance myself from his flight path. He landed in front of me, surprisingly, and I reacted by promptly smacking him on the head with the board.

It only made him madder. "I will get you halfling!" he yelled, grabbing a huge decorative stone and flinging it at me. I saw Maggie and Mary, as well as Aaron, grabbing bats and beginning to advance on Bill. I smiled inwardly. I had such awesome friends.

All I had to do was stall, and soon Bill would be sleeping with the daisies, but then again, I had already tried that, and it hadn't worked. I crossed my fingers, hoping for the best, but of course, my luck had to turn again.

I kept dodging his attacks, either stones or spikes, but somehow I managed to dodge them. Unfortunately, I tripped over a tree root, and fell face first in the dirt. I got up, but it was too late. He was on top of me.

I tried to free myself, but he had me pinned. I heard a slam, and then Bill fell unconscious on the ground. I saw Aaron with a bat standing over him, a look of triumph on his face.

"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! What is that thing?" he asked.

"Um, a little help here!" I yelled from under Bill's heavy body.

"Oh, right," he said, and shoved Bill's body off of me. I saw that he was already starting to come around again, and I turned to Annabeth.

"Can you do that thing where you turn him to dust again?" I asked. She nodded and slashed him with the bronze knife. He exploded, but almost immediately, the dust started to shift together again.

"Um, what is that?" asked Maggie.

"He's reforming. I need to get you four to camp. I think it's obvious that you're demigods too," said Annabeth.

"Wait, did you say demigods?" asked Aaron.

Annabeth just sighed. "I'll explain when we get to camp. Right now you just need to trust me. Hop in," she said, unlocking the truck. We all piled in, getting quite cramped in the process. The truck was filled to capacity with us and our stuff, so I elected to ride in the bed of the truck. All I had to do was cover myself with a tarp if a cop ever showed up.

We pulled away from the Institute, and I saw Bill's form take shape again and come charging at us full tilt, gaining on us quickly.

"Drive faster! He's catching up!" I yelled to Annabeth.

"You have one stubborn monster on your hands!" she yelled back to me, flooring the beat up old truck, and I could hear the transmission whine in protest. The rustbucket wasn't going to get us away from that thing, so I did the best plan I could come up with. I reached in through the hatch in the roof, grabbed Annabeth's knife, and dove off of the truck.


	3. The Highway Street Fight

Chapter 3: The Highway Street Fight

I rolled when I hit the ground, taking away the impact from my legs. I jumped to my feet only to be run into by the creature, and we tumbled together, head over heels, rolling into a ditch. I heard the screech of brakes and then the slamming of car doors.

"No! Run! I've got this!" I yelled, punching the creature in the jaw a few times, just to let him know that I meant business. He responded by delivering a right hook that left me seeing stars. We got off of each other, and faced off, duel style.

"Hah! Stupid halfling! You cannot kill me while my patron still lives! I will bring you and your friends to my patron, and you will serve her well!" he yelled before charging me, flinging a cover fire of spikes at me. I ducked and dodged them, only to be met by the 200 pound monster hurtling at my chest. I reacted instinctively, shifting my weight to my toes and leaping into the air, twisting myself to that my heels were positioned right at his skull. The force of my feet colliding with his head stunned him, but that was all.

"You know, you've got a stupidly thick skull," I commented to the monster.

"Joe! Get out of there! You can't kill him!" I heard Annabeth yell.

I just smiled to her. "Where there's a will there's a way, as they say. I happen to know something that no one can resist," I said, pulling out a large device, with two prongs on one end, and the mother of all batteries on the other end. I saw my friend's eyes go wide with terror.

"Monster, I'd like you to meet the tuning fork of death!" I yelled, touching the two prongs to the back of his neck. I could literally see the shockwave of energy rippling through his body, his body convulsing as hundreds of volts of electricity flew through his body. After about a minute he just dissolved into dust, but he reformed again almost instantly.

"Gah! Stay dead would you!" I yelled, only to be found in the monster's clutched yet again. I saw my four friends race into the battle, Aaron armed with the bat, Annabeth with another knife, Mary somehow had a bronze sword, and Maggie had an old section of rusted pipe. Yup, I have some pretty awesome friends.

I struggled under the grip of the monster, trying not to breath in his rancid breath. "Hoo. There's a new trend going around buddy. It's called brushing. I recommend it strongly," I said, trying to stall so my friends could get behind him and brain him.

Apparently he didn't appreciate my humor, because he snarled at me and motioned to cut me again with a spine on his tail.

"Go ahead," I said. "I'm already inoculated against your little poison."

He snarled again, and then there was a slam, and his body fell on me again.

"Wow, deja vu all over again," I muttered, shoving his body off of me. "Thanks for that," I said, but they couldn't reply because the monster rose up again, now looking really angry. We had rolled to the edge of a small pond, and I had sunk about ankle deep in mud. It was much harder to react, like having my feet in concrete. I tried to roll out of the way of the monster's next swipe, but I couldn't react fast enough. The swipe, armed with a razor sharp claw, was going to slice my neck in half, and I could only watch it happen.

I heard a yell from all my friends, all at once, and then several things happened at once which shook me up pretty bad. A pillar of water jumped out of the lake and wrapped around the monster, followed by a bolt of lightning that wound its way around the monster, followed further by a bolt of green energy that surrounded him, encasing him in a shell. Annabeth just stared. Me, I was just grateful my head was still attached to my body.

I had one last idea to get rid of this monster. I went to my bag of party tricks and pulled out a black sphere with a string attached to it. Annabeth's eyes widened.

"Is that..."

"A bomb? Yup. Heads up gang!" I yelled, lighting the fuse and stuffing the bomb down the creature's throat. The magic bonds holding him released, and he fell to the ground, choking on the lit bomb.

"Hit the deck!" I yelled, throwing myself and Annabeth to the ground as the bomb went off, scattering his body around until all that was left was a fine yellow dust.

"Well, that takes care of that problem," I mumbled, rolling over to allow myself to breath.

"What was that?" Maggie asked.

"C4. Man, I love that stuff. What the hell did you guys do though. I didn't know that you could do magic. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Um, because we only figured it out THREE SECONDS AGO! Would anyone mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Mary yelled.

"I'll explain everything, but only once we get to camp. I'll be able to tell you some things in the truck, but it'll take awhile to tell you everything," said Annabeth.

We all piled into the truck, and this time I squeezed in so I could hear everything. This story would be too good for me to pass up.

"So, to begin, the god of olympus are real. All of those myths, they actually happened. The gods are forces of nature that move with the spirit of the west, in this case America. The gods sometimes come down here and have children with mortals, demigods. I am one, a child of Athena, and you all are too. We'll have to wait until you're claimed to know what child you are, but I have my suspicions already. There is something weird about you though, Joe. You say you knew both of your parents? You weren't adopted or somethin?" said Annabeth.

"Nope, I was born to them, and they raised me until they died. In fact, we all did. Right guys?" I said. They all mumbled an affirmative. We all had great parents, but the subject was touchy.

Annabeth screwed her face in concentration. Something was wrong.

"What's up?" I asked.

"It's just weird for a mortal to remarry after meeting a god or goddess, especially to raise a demigod. I have a suspicion, it's nuts, but I'll have to ask Chiron," she said.

My brain clicked, putting the pieces together. Demigods. Annabeth Chase. Chiron. Greek gods. "We're going to Camp Half-Blood aren't we? Those stories, they're real?" I asked. I saw all my friends eyes widen in realization too.

"Ugh, curse that stupid son of Apollo, Riordan. When he published those stories after the Second Titan War, we had to go into triple lockdown of the camp to keep hidden. Now he's publishing what's happening with the Giant War. I knew I should have tried to convince Chiron not to let him write those books. Too late now I guess," she said.

We drove for an hour, until we came across an old strawberry stand. I took in the scent of the countryside. My parents used to take me to the country every once in awhile. We went apple picking, berry picking, did corn mazes, cider mills, you name it. It was a wondrous time.

Annabeth parked the truck on the other side of the street and we strolled over the hill. My eyes widened as I took in the view below me. Down below was a massive strawberry field, but that's not what caught my eye. In the valley was what I approximated to be a small city. There were ton of buildings, all Greek architecture, of every shape and size. The place was amazing.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Camp Half Blood," said Annabeth. She walked over the hill and beckoned us to follow. We walked over, but then I hit the wall. Literally. I hit an invisible wall that held me back. It only lasted a second or two, but when it was gone I was left gasping for breath, like I had just run a mile. I then felt like my body was in turmoil with itself, fighting itself over what controlled my body. My instincts were screaming both run and stay at the same time, and I just held my head and sank to my knees, feeling blackness swamp me for the second time that day.

I woke up in a weird structure, on a bed that was incredibly soft, an ice pack on my head. Annabeth was standing over me like a mother.

"Do you mind?" I asked, and she jolted a little, obviously surprised that I was awake.

"How do you feel?"

"Fine, but man, I have the mother of all headaches. Whatever happened to me, my head did not like that."

"Probably just a lingering effect of the manticore poison. Maybe your little antidote didn't work as well as you hoped," she said with genuine concern.

"Is that what that thing was? Well I know that the antidote worked, plus, these symptoms were different, like my body was waging war with itself. That invisible wall started it all," I said, kneading my temples.

Annabeth looked surprised. "What invisible wall?"

"I don't know. I ran into something for a few seconds, as if the camp were, I don't know, rejecting me somehow."

Annabeth looked intrigued. "I need to talk to Chiron about this. If you're feeling well enough, I'll give you a tour of the place."

"I'm coming. Nothing but a headache now," I said, hopping out of the very comfortable bed.

We walked around the entire camp, Annabeth showing me everything about the camp, the climbing wall, the canoe lake, the forge (which looked awesome), the stables, and all the other stuff, finishing with the cabins. They were all lined up in the courtyard, shaped in a massive greek omega. The cabins varied in shape and appearance, and some were rather bizarre. One looked like it had grown out of the ground, and another looked like an army of skeletons had assembled into a house. Annabeth showed all of them to me, and I must say, they were fairly spectacular.

"So, one of these is mine?" I asked.

"Yup, once we find out who's your parent," she said, walking into the Athena cabin. I walked in after her and I knew that it was home. The place was filled with scrolls and books, plans and blueprints for countless projects. There was scientific equipment strewn all over the place, tons of experiments bubbling and brewing.

"Oh yeah. I like this place," I said, gazing around at the complex.

Annabeth smiled. "I thought that you'd say that. You're most likely a child of Athena, considering your scientific and strategic prowess, but I don't know. You may be Hephaestus too. Only time will tell. Right now we'll put you four in the guest cabin for now until you're claimed, which shouldn't take long. Come on, I want you to meet someone."

We walked through the camp until we came upon a guy riding a horse. Correction, a guy who was part horse. A centaur to be exact. He was talking to my friends, so I skipped around back to join them.

The guy, who I supposed was Chiron, glanced at me and paused for a second, as if he were confused, but the expression quickly faded and he continued with his speech.

"Well, I would like to give you all an official welcome to Camp Half-Blood. I'm sure Annabeth told you most of what goes on here, but in case you are ever confused, just ask Annabeth or I and we will tell you what you need to know. Any questions? No? Alright then. Annabeth will show you to your cabin," he said before running, or is it galloping, off to do something else.

Annabeth led us over to what can only be described as a standard summer camp cabin, wooden structure, unpainted, and it could hold about twelve. It looked homey, and since I hadn't really had a home since I was ten, I made myself at home. I plopped my stuff down, setting my laptop on the desk space that I had, and tried to find a plug for it.

"Hey, got an outlet around here?" I asked Annabeth.

She took one glance at my laptop and nearly screamed in frustration. "You idiot! Technology attracts monsters! I can't let you keep that laptop, unless you want to get mauled in your sleep," she said.

"Hey, calm down. That's my life's work on there. I'm sure I can just rig a celestial bronze reverse Faraday shield that will keep out any kind of signal that a monster can read. In fact, you don't happen to have any celestial bronze wire on you, do you?" I asked, rolling up my sleeves and pulling out a pair of pliers and piece of paper, and started to draw out a plan for my reverse Faraday shield.

"I don't know if it'll work. I'll have to run it by Chiron first," she said, and ran off to find Chiron. Not five minutes later she returned. "He says that you can try it, but he's not sure if it'll work. You may need some magic to be infused in it. Maybe Maggie could help you there," Annabeth said.

"Uh, why?" she asked.

"Because you are almost certainly a child of Hecate, goddess of magic, especially after that spectacle on the highway."

"Oh. Ok."

"So, Annabeth, where can I get some wire?" I asked.

"Try the forge. I'm sure the Hephaestus kids can help you out with your design," Annabeth said.

"Nah. I worked for a mechanic for several years, so I'm good with my hands. That guy was a crazy good inventor too. Good man. Anyway, best be getting to work," I said, running off to grab my wire.

"Uh, Joe, dinner starts in five minutes, so you may want to wait on that. And then there's the sing-along at the campfire right after, so you may have to wait on your project," said Annabeth.

"Ooh. Are we allowed to bring a song of our own to sing, because Joe, you could whip out that song again. The fiddling one. I love that one," said Mary, pretending to play a little fiddle.

"I told you before. I don't know how I did that. I don't know how to play a fiddle."

"You did that once."

"Yeah, but I don't know how I did that."

"Wait, you can play music?" asked Annabeth.

"Yeah he can, and sing too. He's the best, even if he won't admit it," said Aaron, smiling.

"Hm. There's is definitely something different about you four, but I can't put my finger on it. Come on. Let's get to dinner. I'm starving," said Annabeth.


	4. Dinner and a Sing-Along

Chapter 4: Dinner and a Sing-Along

The five of us marched off to the pavilion, where we got our own table. We got our food and were about to go eat when we saw everyone go off to a brazier in the center of the pavilion, where they would scrape off a portion of their food into the fire.

Annabeth explained, "It's a burnt offering to the gods. They like the smell."

I made a face. "Who would like the smell of burning food?" I said before I caught a whiff of the smoke. It smelled like freshly cut grass, like brownies straight out of the oven, like my mom's shampoo, like my dad's office, all the things that reminded me of happiness and my family. I almost believed that the gods could live off of that smell.

I scraped a portion of my beef into the fire, and sent up a silent prayer to whoever my godly parent up there was to send me a sign or something. I was getting really curious over who my parents were, or was, however you want to put it.

I sat down at our table where my friends were sitting. We ate in silence, taking in the scene around us. One of the Hermes kids was trying to pickpocket an Ares camper, a Hecate camper had stolen the hair off of an Apollo camper, and an Ares camper, a big mean girl, was trying to declare open war on a pile of mashed potatoes. It was...an interesting scene, and I wondered where my friends and I fit into that picture. I couldn't quite place any of us, so I guess only time would tell.

Annabeth sat over with the Athena campers, and I could tell that she fit in well their. They were deep in a discussion about the validity of Einstein's theory of relativity, and it was an interesting discussion, but not one I wanted to get engaged in. I was lost in thought when the Ares girl I had seen declaring war on potatoes marched up to me and seized me by the leg, dangling upside down.

"What are you staring at? Looking at me that way, huh? You want to fight?" she asked.

"No. I just want to know what you had against potatoes," I said calmly, well, as calmly as one can when hanging upside down.

I saw her turn red. "I wasn't fighting my potatoes, I was just practicing my sword moves."

"Against potatoes?'

"Don't judge me."

"No no. Fighting potatoes. Very macho," I said.

"That's it punk," she said, swinging a punch at my head. I tightened my abs and curled out of the way. Using the distraction, I kicked her in the head with my free leg, and she crumpled. I landed on top of her, pinning her arm to her back in a position to break it.

I whispered in her ear, "I've dealt with bullies worse than you before," before letting her go.

She looked startled. "You've got spunk kid. I like it. My name's Clarisse. Maybe we could use you for Capture the Flag tomorrow night, you know, if you're not claimed by then. If you are, I'll try to recruit your team. I like your spirit," she said, rubbing her head and walking away.

I just sat down in shock. Annabeth walked over, looking pretty amazed. "You know, the only one I've ever seen do anything like that to Clarisse is Percy, and he had to use his power over water. And, somehow you managed to gain a friendship with Clarisse. How did you do that?" she asked.

I just shrugged. "I had to deal with bullies a lot in school, although now that I think about, they were probably monsters, but regardless. I taught myself self-defense mostly from experience. Having really fast reaction times is great too."

Annabeth gave me another calculated gaze, and I could tell that she was analyzing me again. "There is really something different about you Joe. I guess we'll see at the sing-along tonight."

I just nodded and went back to eating, my thoughts whirling. Who was I? And why did everyone think that I was something special? Sure, I was smart and I could fight, but what did that mean? I guess only time would tell.

After dinner, a guy in a hawaiian shirt got up and addressed the crowd.

"Yes, yes. Afternoon. No one cares. Okay, you know we have the sing-along tonight, and tomorrow is Capture the Flag. Yippee, hooray. Now run along you little brats," he said in a very monotone voice. I instantly knew that I didn't like that guy.

"Hey Annabeth, who was that guy?" I asked.

Annabeth assumed a look on annoyance and sighed. "That's our director, Dionysus. He's very sour because he's stuck here for fifty more years because he fell for a wood nymph that was declared off limits. Yippee, hooray," she said, clearly mocking the director's tone. I laughed, and we continued to chat all the way down to the campfire.

The campfire was massive, almost the height of two story house and about as wide as a bus, surrounded by logs so massive you could drive through them with a semi and still not brush the sides. It was quite amazing.

We started to sing some crazy songs about stuff like Hades' underpants and a wood nymph down by the creek. The choruses were easy to remember, and I sang along with vigor. Toward the end, Annabeth gave me a wink and motioned for everyone to quiet down.

"As you know, we have several new campers tonight, yet unclaimed, but one of them has _volunteered,_" she said, putting special emphasis on the word, and giving me another wink, "to give us a song. Joe, if you would," she said, sitting down again.

"Oh great," I muttered under my breath, but I made my way down to the base of the fire, near a big tree stump. "Alright, anybody got a fiddle?" I asked. An Apollo camper passed one down to me, and I tuned it up, I don't know how but I did. I pulled the bow across the strings to test it, and began the introduction, a rather rapid intro, but somehow I managed before launching into the song, which was a rather rapidly sung song, while my friends started the clapping.

Well the devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind, 'cause he was way behind, he was willing to make a deal. When he came across a young man sawing on a fiddle and playin it hot, the devil jumped up on a Hickory stump (here I actually jumped on the stump) and said "Boy let me tell you what. I bet you didn't know it but I'm a fiddle player too, and if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you. Now you play a pretty good fiddle boy,

but give the devil his due, I bet a fiddle of gold again against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you.

The boy said my name's Johnny and it might be a sin, but I'll take your bet, you're going to regret, because I'm the best that's ever been.

Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard, 'cause hell's broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals the cards. Well if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold, but if you lose the devil gets your soul.

The devil opened up his case and he said "I'll start this show" as fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow. He drew the bow across the strings and it gave an evil hiss, and then a band of demons jumped in and it sounded something like this.

I launched into a solo of the devil's part, the whole crowd cheering. The solo was hard, with some plucking of the strings and some strumming, but it came out awesome. When the instrumental was done, I launched back into the song.

When the devil finished Johnny said, "Well your pretty good old son, but sit down in that

chair right there and let me show you how it's done." Fire on the mountain run boys run!

The devil's in the house of the rising sun! Chicken in the breadpan apickin' out dough!

Granny does your dog bite, no child no!

I then proceeded on with Johnny's solo.

The devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat, and he laid that golden

fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet. Johnny said, "Devil just come on back if you ever

want to try again. I done told you once you son of a gun, I'm the best that's ever been."

And he played ire on the mountain run boys run!

The devil's in the house of the rising sun! Chicken in the breadpan apickin' out dough!

Granny does your dog bite, no child no!

I finished the song with one last solo, before taking a deep bow. The crowd cheered, demanding an encore, but I was exhausted. Playing the fiddle (which I actually had no idea how to play, I kind of just went along with the music) that hard and that fast was just draining. I climbed back to my seat with my friends, where they congratulated me and laughed. They always loved that song.

All of a sudden, the whole crowd went silent. Everyone was staring at us. I was wondering what was going on before I saw a light shining on us from above. I looked up and gasped.

Hovering above Aaron, Mary, Maggie, and my heads were two symbols each, for Aaron a bushel of wheat and a trident, for Mary a sword and a lightning bolt, for Maggie a star and caduceus, and for me, an owl and a lyre. All the symbols were gold except for the lyre on top of my head. We all watched as they moved together into one symbol for each person, a combination of the two. It was eerie, but cool looking.

Chiron looked panicked, as did Annabeth, and everyone else just went into mayhem. Chiron and Annabeth shared a knowing and panicked glance, and then both nodded. Chiron slammed his staff on the ground and everyone shut up immediately.

"Calm down everyone. You four and Annabeth, come with me. Everyone else will go back to your cabins. I will announce to you tomorrow what just happened here."

I followed after the centaur, half of me extremely happy, and the other half like a raw nerve, exposed to the world, like a revealed spy. I wanted to both crawl in a hole and proclaim myself to the world at the same time. It made me sick. I had the feeling the following conversation was one that I would not want to have.

**I wish that I could claim credit for the awesome song, but that belongs to the Charlie Daniels Band. The song is entitled "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." I know, very original name right. **


End file.
